Ever since selling his company to Disney for a whopping $4 billion back in 2012, George Lucas hasn’t been too involved in the Star Wars franchise. And frankly, that’s probably for the best at this stage. However, that doesn’t mean he’s totally distanced himself from his baby, with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealing that the iconic director still has some input on one thing in particular.
Entertainment Weekly, who brought us a boatload of new information on Star Wars: The Last Jedi last week thanks to their new cover story, revisited a comment made to them by Kennedy back at Celebration in April. We’re not sure why they’re just digging this up now, but according to the outlet, when they asked the studio head honcho if Lucas still has any input into the development of future films in the franchise, she said the following:
“Not really,” she said. “But he’ll whisper in my ear every now and then. Usually it’s something specific or important to him about Jedi training. Things like that.”
Speaking on how George is adjusting to not being in charge anymore and making the transition, Kennedy noted that it’s been hard for him to let go.
“I think he’s starting to settle into this and just be a fan,” she said. “It’s taken a while. It’s hard to let go, after 40 years. That’s a lot of expectation and things he thought a lot about. Suddenly that next generation, that whole thematic idea he came up with, is in process.”
This makes an awful lot of sense, as Star Wars is such a massive part of Lucas’ life and it’s totally understandable that he might be feeling a bit lost right about now, watching from the outside as the franchise evolves in bold and exciting new ways. Still, like we said above, it’s probably for the best that some fresh blood is now steering the ship and given the tremendous success that each new installment has seen thus far, we’d say that everything is going just fine for the beloved sci-fi series.
Of course, up next from that galaxy far, far away is Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which will blast into theatres on December 15th. Other projects gestating in the franchise include an untitled Han Solo origin story – helmed by Ron Howard, it’s on course to hit theatres on May 25th, 2018 – and Star Wars: Episode IX, the Colin Trevorrow-directed sequel that will herald the latest (and final?) chapter in the Skywalker saga come 2019.
